Learning the Alphabet—One Box at a Time

One of my grandsons, Luis, recently turned five years old. In spite of his bilingual capabilities and keen awareness for details, he has not quite caught onto learning the names and sounds of the alphabet. Living 10 hours away (by car) makes tutoring him practically impossible. So I came up with “Plan B.” Knowing how much Luis loves to receive mail, I decided I could help him learn his letters by mailing an alphabet box to him each week.

I decided to begin with the consonants, followed by the short vowel sounds, and rounding off the “classes” with long vowel sounds. For the first week, I sent Luis a large envelope with a letter indicating that Grandma was going to help him learn the alphabet and instructing him that each week he would receive a new package from me. The envelope included an alphabet flash card for the letter B, some “B” worksheets to color, and a Book—one from my childhood about a sheep. (Sheep, after all, say Baaaa!) I also wrote a list of other B words for him to find around the house (brother, ball, Banana, bread, etc.) While not the most exciting things to send, the package included enough stuff to get Luis excited about the alphabet. He asked his parents to read the book. He did activities during the week with a ball and a balloon, and he colored his large letter B. Thankfully, Luis did not think B is for boring!

Week two’s package was a bit more exciting. It was a box that included the C flashcard with a picture of a cat on it, some “C” worksheets to colors, a letter from me suggesting Luis find other C words at home (cup, cap, car, etc.), a package of cookie mix (just add water and an egg!) and some really fun cookie cutters.

By week four, Luis had received packages for D and F, and he had also visited the zoo. While there, he enthusiastically told his mother, “CAT! That sign says CAT!” when they neared the display for the bobcat. When his mom asked how he knew that, Luis replied, “I remember it from the C box!” He added, “I can read!”

Now Luis eagerly looks forward to his boxes and his "distance learning" alphabet classes. He tries to guess what might be in the box. (He thought donuts might be in the D box, and considered a tea cup could be in the F box until he rightly sounded out that “cup” starts with C.) My boxes cost approximately $3-$5 a week, depending on what I include in them and the size of the container necessary to ship them, but the benefit and joy of Luis learning the alphabet is MORE than worth the price! H is for Happy—as in a happy grandchild and an even happier grandmother.